TRENTON – For the seventh time since March, New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Steven M. Goldman has ordered a mortgage lender to stop taking applications and closing on loans without funding.

Goldman signed a cease and desist order and an order to show cause directing Aegis Wholesale Corporation to immediately stop taking mortgage applications in New Jersey, and stop closing home loans without available funding. In addition, the company is ordered to secure alternate funding sources for those loan applications that are in process, and to provide weekly reports on the progress of these efforts. The company is also asked to show cause as to why its mortgage lending license should not be revoked.

Aegis lists its headquarters as Houston, Texas, with a New Jersey office in Clark. The order also charges that Aegis and a licensed individual representing the lender closed on at least two mortgage loans when the company and its employees knew or should have known that they would be unable to fund those loans. DOBI is in the process of determining how many borrowers have been affected.

The DOBI order charges include:

Misrepresenting or concealing a material particular of a mortgage loan transaction;

Failure to deliver funds following the closing of loans;

Taking mortgage loan applications with knowledge that the loans could not be funded;

Failure to maintain the legally required net worth or;

Insolvency.

Aegis has 20 days to request an administrative hearing objecting to the order. If no hearing is requested, the order will then become final.

Goldman advised consumers who have recently submitted an application with Aegis Wholesale Corporation to contact their mortgage broker and ask them to find a new lender. Goldman also advised consumers who recently closed loans with Aegis Wholesale Corporation to contact their settlement agents to ensure that necessary funds have been received.

Additional information will be posted on the DOBI web site as it becomes available. Individuals with questions regarding a loan pending with Aegis Wholesale may call the DOBI Consumer Hotline at (609) 292-7272.